The present invention relates to a system and method of collecting, statistically analyzing, and graphically displaying process quality control data for a manufacturing process within a network and, more particularly, the ability to accomplish such functions between a single main computer a plurality of remote computers accessible thereto via a web browser.
It is well known within the manufacturing environment for various parameters of a product or process to be quantified and compared with respect to a desired range so as to maintain quality standards. By utilizing such data in this manner, it can be determined whether certain factors in the process should be adjusted. Oftentimes, it is preferred that the monitoring system perform the statistical process control in real time, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,054 to Li and U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,895 to Kurtzberg et al. It will be seen, however, that computers used for this purpose have been interconnected in a typical network configuration. This not only requires direct connection between the various computers, but also that each computer have the software loaded thereon which enables quality control data to be input and analyzed by a known statistical process control method.
It will be understood that there are several ways of statistically analyzing quality control data within the manufacturing environment, as indicated within U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,467 to Vickers and U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,320 to Erjavic et al. Additionally, some of these patents disclose different ways of displaying the information obtained through such statistical analysis. None of the disclosed prior art references, however, focuses on an improved manner of handling the transfer of quality control data between a plurality of computers which are remotely located or the minimization of resources required to perform such functions.
Accordingly, it would be desirable for a system and method to be developed in which a single site or main computer is able to easily have quality control data for a manufacturing process input therein from a plurality of remote computers, whereupon the main computer is able to apply a statistical process control method thereto and make the results of such analysis accessible to the remote computers. In this way, parameters of the manufacturing process can be modified as dictated by the analysis of quality control data provided by all locations in a more efficient and less expensive manner. Moreover, none of the remote computers is required to include the software performing the statistical analysis thereon, which is particularly relevant when developing a prototype process.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a system for handling quality control data for a manufacturing process between a plurality of computers is disclosed. The system includes a main computer for analyzing quality control data of a designated area of the manufacturing process by means of a statistical process control method, with the main computer further including memory for storing a database of quality control data and a processor for applying the statistical process control method to the quality control data and posting the results of the statistical analysis on a web site of the main computer. The system also includes at least one computer remotely located from the main computer, with each remote computer further including communications circuitry for establishing a connection with the main computer web site by means of a web browser and an interface for inputting quality control data for a designated area of the manufacturing process into the web browser for receipt by the main computer and receiving results of a statistical analysis of the quality control data from the main computer web site through the web browser.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, a method of handling quality control data for a manufacturing process among a plurality of computer sites is disclosed. The method includes the steps of establishing a connection between at least one remote computer and a main computer via a web browser, inputting quality control data of the manufacturing process from the remote computer into a database of the main computer via the web browser, performing a statistical analysis on the quality control data input into the main computer, and posting results of the statistical analysis on a web site of the main computer accessible through the web browser.